A nonprofit organization has paid for a billboard along Route 924 that tells the borough to fire its suspended police chief.

The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, a 501(c)(4) organization based in Washington, D.C., paid for the sign just off the Gilberton exit. It reads: "Gilberton Council: Fire Kessler. Even the Oath Keepers dumped him."

The Oath Keepers is a nonprofit organization founded in 2009 that encourages its members to disobey any orders that they feel violate the Constitution, such as disarmament.

Police Chief Mark Kessler said Tuesday that he has never been a member of the Oath Keepers but has done interviews and public appearances for its founder, Stewart Rhodes.

"I think it's comical," Kessler said of the billboard. "There's so many other things going on in life and they have to put a billboard up for me. I feel honored that I'm on everyone's mind."

The Gilberton borough council suspended Kessler for 30 days without pay July 31 for using borough weapons in YouTube videos with permission from the council. In the videos, Kessler fires automatic weapons and uses profanity while claiming that Americans are losing their Second Amendment rights. The videos gained national attention with hundreds of thousands of views.

"It's not someplace we normally do work, but we do work where we believe gun lobbies and gun culture are threatening America," Joshua Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, said Tuesday.

According to its website at www.csgv.org, the coalition was founded in 1974 to "seek to secure freedom from gun violence through research, strategic engagement and effective policy advocacy." The group is comprised of 47 national organizations working to reduce gun violence and includes members of religious organizations, child welfare advocates, public health professionals and social justice organizations.

The billboard was put up Tuesday and has a 30-day lease, Horwitz said.

"We think the idea that Mark Kessler has a private militia that he is using to intimidate people is not compatible with him being a police chief," Horwitz said, referring to Kessler's Constitution Security Force.

"To say that I have my own private, armed militia to back me up, he is no longer supporting the public," Horwitz said.

Horwitz also noted Kessler's frequent use of the word "libtard" in his videos.

"If you're a police chief, you need to represent all the people and Mark Kessler can't do that," he said.

Horwitz said the organization wanted to take a stand.

"The guys with the guns don't get to make the rules," Horwitz said. "We recognize Kessler used the Second Amendment as a club and we really felt we had to step in there and say that is not the meaning of the Second Amendment and it hurts the freedom of the Constitution."

Kessler said he had nothing to say to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.

"I'm fighting for the Second Amendment. They want to take it away and I want expand on it," Kessler said.

A picture was posted Tuesday on Kessler's Facebook fan page that shows Kessler holding a firearm while standing on the billboard. He also posted that anyone who wants to take a group picture on the billboard meet at 2 p.m. Saturday in the parking lot at 452 S. Lehigh Ave., Frackville. The post concludes with, "Don't forget to bring your firearms."